Her Late Husband

(KING'S-HINTOCK, 182-.)     "No - not where I shall make my own;      But dig his grave just by     The woman's with the initialed stone -      As near as he can lie -     After whose death he seemed to ail,      Though none considered why.     "And when I also claim a nook,      And your feet tread me in,     Bestow me, under my old name,      Among my kith and kin,     That strangers gazing may not dream      I did a husband win."     "Widow, your wish shall be obeyed;      Though, thought I, certainly     You'd lay him where your folk are laid,      And your grave, too, will be,     As custom hath it; you to right,      And on the left hand he."     "Aye, sexton; such the Hintock rule,      And none has said it nay;     But now it haps a native here      Eschews that ancient way . . .     And it may be, some Christmas night,      When angels walk, they'll say:     "'O strange interment! Civilized lands      Afford few types thereof;     Here is a man who takes his rest      Beside his very Love,     Beside the one who was his wife      In our sight up above!'"